Phoenix Fallen by Heather R. Blair Page A

sounds of the city around him, nothing stirred. He was tempted to look at the card again, but resisted the urge. He knew was the damn place.
    He stepped up to the door, but before he could raise his hand, it opened. The distant murmur of voices and music spilled out into the night. A man appeared, his hand outstretched. Featureless, backlit by the glow of lights from inside, he stood there, silent and waiting.
    Wow, they really went for the atmosphere, didn't they?
    Probably for the humans.
    Jules rolled his eyes, but handed over the card Rissa had given him. Without glancing at it, the man waved him in.
    The hallway was narrow and twisting, like a tunnel. Golden light holding the faintest touch of crimson and the most enticing smells teased Jules forward. His mouth started to water and his gut clenched.
    That was blood. A shitload of it. Well, what had he expected?
    Bleeder. Club.
    Abruptly he came around a corner and space yawned around him. It was bigger than even Phoenix's immense atrium, but without the glass and view of the sky. The impression was of a gigantic cavern, hewn of metal and mirrors instead of rock. They must have knocked out half the floors in this old apartment building, but that was hardly the extent of the stunning renovation.
    Staircases to nowhere ran up the walls, catwalks hung suspended over his head with no visible means of access, but crowded with people, nevertheless. Chandeliers hung at various heights, dripping with gold and red lights, the source of the glow he had seen in the corridor coming down.
    A hammered copper bar dominated the center of the open space. Circular and massive, it held the eye, especially when Jules saw what it offered. Kneeling at all points of the compass around the ring were humans. Their heads were bowed, their posture submissive but eager — you could feel the anticipation humming from them over the music. Freaky.
    When he got closer he could see each one rested their hands palm up on their thighs, a small cut on every right wrist that trickled matching scarlet lines down various shades of skin. That had to be the source of the overwhelming smell.
    Jules stepped up to the bar out of pure curiosity.
    The bartender moved over at once, eyeing Jules up and down once, then nodding shortly. "What'll it be, sir?"
    "What do you got?"
    The man's look was smug. "Everything. Feel free to sample any of the vintages on tap. From sweet and young," he tapped the heads of the two people immediately in front of Jules, both blond; one male, one female. The humans shivered, but otherwise didn't acknowledge the conversation taking place over them.
    "Or slightly aged and mellow." He jerked his head to indicate a point farther along to Jules' left. As the bartender leaned forward, Jules realized with a slight tingle of shock that he was human as well.
    "We also have virgin bleeders on reserve, rare stock, never been bitten. Not ever. That is guaranteed, sir. You do have to drink those in a private room, though. The screams. I'm sure you understand."
    Bemused, Jules nodded, resisting the urge to blink. "Of course. And these are all willing participants, are they?"
    The bartender frowned, leaning back at once. "Of course, sir. You should know that if…"
    The honeysuckle scent alerted him even before the bartender's voice trailed away, instantly oozing even more oily charm than he'd produced for Jules. "Miss Styles. Anything from the bar for you tonight?"
    "No, Ashton. Thank you."
    Rissa was wearing the champagne silk of his fantasies. Jules' fingers tightened on the bar.
    A dress that pretended to be demure, but most assuredly was not. Any more than the woman filling it out. The rich fabric hugged her from shoulders to hips, then flared wide, falling in shimmering waves to the floor. A slit clean to her hip gave him a flickering peep show of those gorgeous legs encased in sheer black thigh-highs. Her heels were strappy, gold and lethal.
    Her red hair had been gathered in an artful knot at